You got your sense of humor from your mom and your good looks from your dad, but you may have inherited something else from your parents – your problems with money. Bad financial habits often run in the family, as parents pass along their attitudes about debt, saving, and spending to their kids, sometimes unwittingly.

Forty-four percent of Americans surveyed by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) said they learned most of their financial lessons from their parents. Yet in a separate NFCC poll, 44% also said they’d never considered whether there was a link between their parents’ financial habits and the way they handled money. Just 12% said their parents’ money mistakes caused them to adopt financial habits that were the opposite of Mom and Dad’s.’